AT&T snatches up Alltel's US operations for $780 million

Refresh Roundup: week of December 24th, 2012

Alltel joining the unlimited parade tomorrow?

Rumor has it Alltel will be jumping on the bandwagon along with... oh, pretty mucheveryoneelsenow -- including fellow mega-regional US Cellular -- to offer an all-you-can-eat voice plan starting tomorrow. Interestingly, the internal announcement emphatically reminds salesfolks that My Circle is still the best option for pretty much everyone; they basically stop just short of saying that they're rolling out the plan only to be able to say they have it, just like everyone else. Indeed, with 20 peeps in Alltel's My Circle 20 package, it's hard to justify the need to shell out $100 a month unless you're calling a wide variety of people and calling them all the friggin' time, but hey, Alltel's gotta keep up with the Joneses, right? We'll find out tomorrow if this is legit, but given the way the market has been going, we've no reason to believe it's not. Follow the break for the full announcement.

[Thanks, Miles]

On Friday, March 7, 2008, Alltel will introduce an unlimited voice rate plan, National Freedom Unlimited ($99.99/Billing Code - U8G1), giving Customers another choice in their service options.

While this offer will probably only appeal to a small group of Customers, Alltel gives Customers choices about their wireless service. Even though few Customers want rate plans with high access price points Alltel wants to fill their wireless needs too.

My Circle is still the best value for those who want unlimited calling and don't want to pay a very high price for it. It gives Customers the freedom to get unlimited calling to those that they call the most without paying extra for the "security" of unlimited calling. However, to be a true Customer ally Alltel is offering an unlimited plan, so that the Customer can decide if that is the plan they need.

Even though we are offering this choice for Customers, remember that Alltel still has the best value for families. Alltel gives families the best value with any My Circle plan. Customers get unlimited free calling to their Circle numbers, plus the advantages of unlimited M2M and Night and Weekend calling. Best of all, Customers can add lines for just $9.99 per month and those additional lines get to take advantage of that unlimited calling as well. With the National Freedom Unlimited rate plan Customers would have to purchase multiple lines at $99.99 each. That makes the "security" of unlimited calling really expensive for multi-line families, especially when My Circle10 or My Circle20 can give them that same security for a much lower cost.

National Freedom Unlimited Rate Plan Details:

$99.99 per month, per lineIncludes unlimited voice calling and all standard calling features, including voicemail Toll-free to the United States National Freedom coverage with standard National Freedom roaming, when applicable Available through all channels Not available for any affinity, military, or business discounts Employee discount is available Open for entry in UNITY, eWAVE, and alltel.com Existing Customers are eligible Available to postpaid Customers only Not available with smartphone devices; Smart Choice Packs are still a great value with Circle Any other feature (including data features) may be purchased with this offer, with the exception of BlackBerry, Office Sync, Wireless Internet, and Axcess Minutes Is NOT a My Circle offering; Customers who select this plan do not get the benefits of My Circle Advantage Plan will not be advertised. Alltel will continue to focus on the value of My Circle in its advertising Standard compensation applies Not available in the Litchfield, CT market (Site - 403)